


Better than words

by Wiedie



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-04
Updated: 2015-02-04
Packaged: 2018-03-10 11:42:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,907
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3289076
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Wiedie/pseuds/Wiedie
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Haven't you heard of the expression " Actions speak louder than words?"</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Life Randomly Having Some Fun

**Author's Note:**

> AN: Hi there \\(^ ^). This is my first fanfiction ( co-written with my friend) .I initially posted this story on ff.net and decided to post it here as well (after fixing some minor grammatical errors). Hope you enjoy ;D  
> PS: I know chapter 1 is short but it just serves as an intro.
> 
> Disclaimer: I do not own attack on titan

BETTER THAN WORDS

Chapter 1: Life randomly having some fun

Normal POV

Today had been a rather long, tedious and unnecessary Monday for Armin Alert. The morning he had overslept by a whole hour! He still can’t believe it. This meant that he wasn’t able to walk to school with his two best friends, Eren and Mikasa. It had taken quite a bit of convincing from Armin (and glaring from Mikasa) to get Eren to walk without him. Eren had insisted that he didn’t mind being late with Armin. Armin really appreciated the kind gesture. Eren was really too kind but his not complaining, it was after all one of the reasons why he fell inlove with him.  
Armin and Eren had been friends since the age of 6 and up until the age of 13 Armin had nothing but respect and admiration for his best friend. Once they reached high school though, those emotions evolved into something deeper and more serious. Eren was Armin's first friend and for that reason, Armin really treasured Eren's friendship and would not want anything to come between the two of them. No matter how many times he told himself this, he could not stop his feelings from spiraling out of control.  
But back to Armin’s bad day. Once he had arrived (late) at school, he had to endure a long lecture and a disappointed look from his favourite teacher as well as interval detention. The interval detention really put him off as that meant he couldn’t spend any free time with Eren or Mikasa. They have all their classes together though but they couldn’t really talk in class. To add to his gloomy mood, almost all the extra mural activities take place on Mondays, so Armin had debating and Eren had soccer after school. And just because on this specific day everything randomly decided to go wrong for Armin, instead of spending interval with his friends he had to spend it in a class being teased and picked on by the other teens in detention. Apparently they thought he was the perfect A-student who didn’t get in trouble at all; this discovery only succeeded in irritating Armin.  
So yes, it had been a grueling Monday for Armin and the worst part is that it wasn’t even over yet. Sadly Armin never knew that life wasn’t yet done with him for the day.


	2. Flashbacks and painful realisations

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: Just some terms that may need an explanation.  
> Matriculant: 12th grader  
> Interval: break/recess  
> Snackwhich: toasted bread  
> Peanut butter and cheese snackwhich: Veeeery delicious :)

Chapter 2: Flashbacks and painful realizations

Normal POV

The bell had finally rung, signalling the end of the school day. Armin made his way towards the room in which debating coaching takes place. Eren wanted to walk with him but the teacher wanted to discuss something with him. Armin was so done with the day already but he planned on taking part in at least one debating match for his school so he had to attend coaching today. He took his time walking to the class; he was in no rush whatsoever. His mind was beyond tired so his body was basically operating on auto-pilot right now. ‘Come on Armin one more hour then you’re home free. You can do it’ Armin tried to motivate himself but shortly afterwards he let out a dry chuckle “yeah right. Wishful thinking” he muttered to himself. These actions prompted a sigh to escape Armin’s lips;” You know you’re done with the world when you start complaining to yourself” . “My my, isn’t this a sad sight. Always knew you were gonna go looney from being so clever, never thought it was gonna happen to you so young.” Armin’s POV Wait, that voice. . .oh no.That’s it! I’m finally convinced now. Life has randomly decided that today would be the day where it would take down Armin Alert. Yip that has to be the reason why it’s throwing everything it’s got at me. I turn around only to see Maria High’s resident bully, Kano Glek. Okay Armin calm down, you can get out of this alive and unscathed. This guy usually doesn’t bother me so what’s his problem today. “Hi there, I’m flattered that you’re worried over my health but I assure you, I haven’t gone ‘looney’ I had a rather long day and I just want it over and done with. . . you know , if you don’t mind”. Dammit! Where’d that sarcasm come from?! Those words really were not calm and relaxed. Nooo that was not what I needed now. Normal POV A huge grin broke out onto Kano’s face as he began cracking his knuckles moving towards Armin. Armin looked around for any signs of life or an escape route but saw none. His mental exhaustion had put a strain on his body, making him physically tired as well. The physical exhaustion coupled with fear had Armin frozen in place. “Huh where’s your idiot boyfriend seeing as you got a bit of an attitude today?” Kano asked. Hearing this made Armin remember just how defenseless he is and Kano knew by the look on Armin’s face that Eren won’t be arriving any time soon to save him .He took advantage of this. As Kano raised his fist Armin’s mind couldn’t help replaying a certain incident in his mind. Flashback It was the first day of school in the sunny town of Maria. Six-year old Armin Alert was happily walking to school, holding his grandfather’s hand. To say he was excited would be a massive understatement because he had such a huge smile on his face you could see his gums. His grandfather couldn’t help but beam down at his little chibi of a grandson. After the welcoming assembly was over, the parents and guardians were asked to say goodbye to their little ones. Surprisingly enough, Armin wasn’t even sad about his grandfather leaving; he was too excited to learn lots and lots of new things. In the little time they had before interval, the children were asked to introduce themselves to the class. They had to say their name, age and the colour of their toothbrush. Armin was a little more than nervous when it came to his turn. “Hi. My name is Armin Alert, I am six and a half years old and I have a red and white dinosaur toothbrush” Armin managed to mutter without stuttering. He quickly sat down and shut his eyes tightly out of shyness. He was so caught up in his shyness that he didn’t pay attention to the other kid’s introductions until, “Hi there, my name’s Eren Jaeger. I’m six and a half years old, just like him,” he smiled while pointing to Armin, “but I have a black and blue batman toothbrush because batman is sooo cool. Oh, but yeah dinosaurs are pretty cool too” Eren finished while beam at Armin. Armin just blushed the most adorable shade of red and looked away. For the rest of the introduction Armin was left thinking about this “Eren” boy. The bell then rang signalling that it was interval and the teacher let the kids out to have fun. Armin’s excitement vanished and he became nervous and extremely shy. He never had friends at home so making friends was something that would prove to be very difficult for him. He was extremely shy, quiet (at first) and a bit mature for his age. He had no idea what to do in this situation so he just decided to sit down on a bench away from most of the children and took out his lunch. He was just about to pick up a slice of bread when, suddenly, his lunchbox was knocked to the ground and all his lunch fell in the sand. He looked up to see a boy who had to be at least a year older than him. He was big and had a mean looking smirk on his face. Armin immediately came to the conclusion that the kid had to be a bully. His grandfather had warned him against kids like him and told him what to do in these kinds of situations. He made a move to call for a teacher but the bully grabbed his hand in a crushing hold, “Where you going? Girly boy!” Armin looked confused at name the bully called him. “You look like a girl with your long hair but you’re really a boy. It’s making me confused and its irri. . . itti. . . . it makes me mad!” the bully explained. By now Armin was ready to just about burst out crying, both from the bully’s harsh words and his equally harsh grip on Armin’s hands. He was just about to start crying when a figure, a little taller than him, forced his way between him and the bully. The figure, which turned out to be Eren, gave the bully one push. The push caused the bully to let go of Armin’s hand and fall on his bum and he immediately started crying. A teacher rushed over and immediately asked the bully what was wrong. After the bully’s explanation the teacher looked at Eren expectantly. “But teacher he started first. He pushed Armin’s food in the sand and he didn’t wanna let Armin’s hand go” Eren quickly protested. The teacher then turned to Armin. Armin quickly nodded his head while replying, “It’s true ma’am. He also said I looked like a girl and that I irritated him” Armin couldn’t help the few tears that ran down his face, finally crying albeit quietly. The teacher let out a long sigh, having expected something like this to happen. “Ok look here mr” she directed her gaze towards the bully, “Apologize to Armin for being mean to him and then you’re gonna come with me to the timeout corner.” The teacher scolded the bully. He let out an angry sorry and got up ready to follow the teacher. The teacher then turned to Eren, “and you apologize to him for pushing him. Even though he started first you should have come and told me. Violence solves nothing.” She gave Eren a very stern gaze and he also mumbled out an angry apology to the bully. The teacher finally turned to Armin and her scolding voice was gone, “why don’t you also come with me so I can give you something to eat” Eren quickly intervened. “No it’s fine teacher, don’t worry, my mom put in extra lunch for me so I could share with my new friends”. The teacher then gave them both a gentle smile before leaving with the bully. Eren then turned around and held his hand out to a shocked Armin, “Hey you wanna be friends?” Eren beamed down at Armin. It took Armin a few seconds to come to his senses but when he did he immediately took Eren’s hand. “Sure!” he exclaimed excitedly. “also, thank you for saving me” he added while a blushing a deep shade of red. A punch to his stomach brought Armin back to the situation at hand. Due to his tiredness the effect of that one punch could be equivalent to probably 5 of those punches because pain immediately overloaded his senses and he sunk down to his knees. This action only made it possible for Kano to start kicking at Armin. “Not much attitude now huh?” Kano snorted and continued kicking Armin. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Eren had just changed into his training gear, as his math teacher had held him back for a 'little talk' about his grades, when he heard the sound of an unpleasantly familiar snort. He decided to take a detour and make his way over to the sound of the snort just in time to see one of his best friends, Armin Alert, being kicked around by 'the great Kane', as the bully likes to call himself (seriously the dude's way too into wrestling). Eren immediately saw red and started his fists of fury assault. After about 12 or 15 punches Eren released a huff as he didn't even spare Kano a second glance when he fell unconscious. Now don't be mistaken, Eren is not normally violent and cold hearted but once you mess with his friends well . . . he becomes extremely violent and basically doesn't give a damn about the consequences. All throughout the (one-sided) fight Armin could do nothing but just stand and watch as his best friend saved him . . . again. As if just standing there like a damsel in distress wasn't enough to feel guilty about, he just had to stare at the way Eren's toned muscles flexed with every punch he threw. The fact that Eren was wearing a white tank top with a white and red striped soccer shorts did not help to prevent his staring at all. Eren did a quick check over Armin to see if he was okay but even though he knew he was fine he asked anyway, "Hey are you okay?” Armin finally looked into Eren’s eyes and was surprised to not see even an ounce of anger in them, considering he basically just beat that bully to a pulp but somehow his eyes seemed to soften when dealing with Armin. "I'm fine just a bit winded but thank you . . . again." Armin replied. "Don't worry about it, he won't be bothering you again, that is if he doesn't want another ass-whipping from me again!” Eren shouted loud enough for Kano to hear even though he was out cold. Armin really felt bad now; he couldn’t defend himself at all. He had to completely rely on Eren. Eren made a motion to move closer to Armin to check on him properly but Armin was having none of that. ”I’m sorry to have bothered you again. Thank you for all your help. I’ll be fine but I really gotta get going, see you tomorrow.” And with that Armin took off towards debating coaching. He was so ashamed of himself, so ashamed of being a burden to his friends, to Eren. The next day. Armin still felt very ashamed about yesterday and needed time to sort out his feelings. Yesterday when he finally got home he had no energy for anything, not even thinking. He just took a shower, changed into his pyjamas, collapsed on his bed and he was gone. This morning he decided he had a few things to think through and that it would be best to avoid Eren as much as possible. Avoiding Eren turned out to be a mission because there was a part of him that missed Eren. ‘Who would have thought that the statement: ‘distance makes the heart grow fonder’ was actually true’ Armin thought while walking to his last class of the day. Eren thought of Armin the entire day. He didn’t understand his reason for staying away and he was still worried about what happened to him yesterday. He sent text messages and even tried calling but he got no response. He felt like a part of him was missing. He never had any intentions on telling Armin how he felt but has long as he was in his company, Eren was a happy guy. The last period of the day took forever to end, but as soon as the bell rang Eren’s stomach felt weird to him and then he realized he was about to see Armin. They were gonna be walking alone seeing as Mikasa had hockey practise today. But then he felt a weight against his leg and he remembered he has soccer practise today because of the tournament coming up. Taking a second to think things through, Eren decided that he could skip practise today, he wouldn’t be able to concentrate properly today, just like yesterday ‘Maybe we can talk things out’. These were Eren’s thoughts as he made his way towards the school gates until he was interrupted by Marco, “Hey found ya! Armin wanted me to pass a message onto you. He said he won’t be able to walk home with you becasue his going to the library to do some research. But I really gotta go, Jean’s waiting for me. Bye .” Marco offered Eren a wave before he was on his way again. ’So he really plans on avoiding me today. Hell no! I’m having none of that.” Eren thought as he made his towards the library. As soon as he caught up to Armin on his way towards the library he tugged at Armin’s arm. This made Armin jump out of his skin and the colour drain from his face. When Armin realized it was Eren he removed his earphones and sheepishly smiled at Eren to greet him, “Don’t give me that smile” Eren said covering the fact that Armin’s smile caused butterflies. “Good day to you to Eren” Armin replied, “Why have you been avoiding me all day? Was it because you didn’t want to tell me about Kano?” Eren outright asked Armin. “Please Eren not now I have to think about things. It’s not just because of Kano it’s other things too but. . .just–please?” Armin pleaded with Eren. Looking at Armin, Eren decided to give in, “Fine we won’t talk about it but I wanna walk you home.” Understanding that there was no way around this Armin decided to forego the library and head home instead. As they walked home in an awkward silence Armin noticed that Eren had his gym bag with him signaling that he had soccer practice and decided to skip practice to walk Armin home. “Eren! I don't understand. I know you're the vice-captain but that doesn't mean you can skip practice." And so Armin went about giving Eren his usual lecture about always being so overprotective over him. Eren didn't really want to admit it out loud to Armin but deep down, he was still way too angry to go to practice. Yesterday when he went to practise a couple of boys ended up with unnecessary and unintended anger-related bruises from Eren. Levi then pulled Eren aside to tell him to pack up, go home and sort out his problems. Now though he could feel his anger ebbing away. Walking with Armin was one of the best ways to calm down a pissed Eren. Listening to Armin puff up and scold at him for always treating him like a defenseless puppy he couldn't help his train of thought drifting "He should really stop doing that, he has no idea how cute it makes him look. With his stunningly beautiful pale -but not too pale- face and his cheeks painted a lovely dark pink -light red- from his cute little scolding session.” Returning to the present, Eren gave Armin one of his brightest and widest smiles." To be honest I wouldn't be able to concentrate and I'd probably just end up making coach and Captain Levi angry." Again, he added in his mind. Eren decided to change the subject," So how has your research on the workings of criminal minds been coming along? Any luck with finding someone to help you?” After that one question Armin immediately brightened up and became all jittery. “I can't believe I forgot to tell you but yesterday I met a matriculant who is going to be studying forensic science and taking a course in psychology too. His name is Erwin Smith. We’re going out to lunch this Saturday to discuss all the research we've collected on our own so far. “Armin laughed sheepishly putting a hand behind his neck before replying," Can you believe it! I finally found someone whose so into forensics just like me.” A pang of jealousy immediately went through Eren. He knew all too well who Erwin Smith was. He was one of Levi’s friend and also head-boy (a.k.a extremely popular) and the fact that he had handsome looks with herds of girls (and guys) gushing over him did nothing but fuel his jealousy. Even though these were the thoughts that were going through Eren’s head, being the good friend that he was, he put on a huge smile and ruffled Armin’s hair,” I’m glad for you. Now you finally have someone who understands your dreams and can help and guide you properly.” It hurt Eren so much just to say that but he really was happy that Armin met someone who could help him properly with his dream. Eren thought he hid his hurt well but was mistaken as Armin spoke up,” That’s not entirely true, you always support me and remind me never to give up and to continue to work hard towards my dream. And for that I’ll be forever grateful.” Armin gave Eren an adorably honest and thankful smile. Eren was so taken back by Armin’s beautiful and pure smile that he couldn’t help the light pink hue that dusted across his face. At the same time he couldn’t help but feel pride that such a beautiful smile from such a wonderful person was directed towards him. Before Eren said or did something embarrassing he put his hands to his chests in a fake dramatic manner,’’ Oh please I do it coz I’m such a great guy ya I know, I know”. Playfully nudging Armin with his shoulder he realized that they were standing in front of Armin’s house. “Do you maybe wanna come inside? We can do our homework together like we usually do when you don’t have practice.” Armin didn’t even know why he was asking. He was supposed to be thinking about things but he guessed he probably missed Eren too much. Eren gave Armin a huge grin accompanied by an excited, “Sure!” but honestly, why on earth would Eren decline an invitation to spend time alone with Armin, even though most of it would be spent on something as boring as homework. Once they were inside, and the door had been locked (for safety purposes obviously) they went into their usual routine of heading straight into the kitchen before heading up to Armin’s room to start on their homework. Today Armin decided to spoil Eren a bit by making him his favorite sandwich, toasted cheese and peanut butter (yum), even though he still wonders how Eren came across that combination. As they sat side by side on the couch eating their snacks, they spoke about their day for a while. Once they were done eating, before they went up to Armin’s room to get started on their homework, Eren couldn’t help it anymore. He had to ask and so he finally brought up the burning topic. “So how long has he been bothering you please that’s all I want to know?” Armin had to take a moment to brace himself for the upcoming discussion. He inwardly commended Eren for not asking sooner. “That really was the first time he ever bothered me, I guess because I’m usually with you and Mikasa he was clever enough to back off but today he seemed extra pissed off, so he likely forgot about you guys.” Armin mumbled the last part as he was ashamed to admit out loud that the only reason he never got picked on was because of Eren and Mikasa. He couldn’t help but feel guilty at how much he depended on his friends, he really hated it. Seeing such a self-loathing and sad expression on Armin’s face, Eren wanted nothing more than to take Armin into his arms and tell him how much he doesn’t mind protecting him. He really liked the thought that people never messed with Armin because they knew that they would have to deal with him. It was almost as if they knew Armin was his (yes, Eren chose to completely ignore the fact that Armin mentioned Mikasa also). “Hey come on, that’s what friends are for. But to be honest, I was really pissed off when I saw how he was pushing you around. He had his filthy hands on you and that just made me lose it.” Armin was surprised at Eren’s choice of words and slowly, a very deep blush started to make its way onto his face. It took Eren a moment longer to realize exactly just what he had said before a deep blush also appeared on his face. They sat in an awkward silence for a few moments, Eren too afraid to try and correct his statement in fear of only making the situation worse, and Armin deep in thought as he tried to figure out what Eren might or might not have meant. Finally after a few moments Armin was the first to speak, “Since we’re on the topic of being honest, I’ve always admired how willing you are to protect your friends, it makes me feel really special but then there are times when I feel ashamed that I depend on you so much, like I’m a burden”. Armin decided to get, at least, that much off his chest. This time Eren couldn’t control himself and before Armin knew it, he was caught in a tight and warm embrace. “Please please please!” Eren pleaded while tightening his hold on a shocked and frozen Armin. “I want you to completely erase that thought from your mind. I HAVE never and WILL never ever think that way about you. When I protect you it’s not because I feel an obligation towards you as a friend, I do it because I really REALLY want to. You have no idea how much it hurts me to see that look of self-loathing on your face or hear you talk about yourself like that. You think you’re such a burden to everyone but you have no idea how much you actually help everyone. You’re such a selfless person always willing to help wherever you can. You’re such a great person and for the life of me I cannot even begin to understand why you cannot see that for yourself. It’s actually kind of frustrating” Eren uttered the last sentence with a dry chuckle. Armin was left completely speechless as he was overwhelmed with so many emotions. He could not think of any words to reply with, his mind had stopped working. Seeing as his mind stopped working, and he couldn’t give Eren a verbal reply, his body decided to reply for him. He returned Eren’s strong embrace and buried his face in Eren’s neck. They sat like that for quite a while, locked in a tight embrace, both enjoying the other’s presence until Eren finally made a move. He just couldn’t resist, having Armin there in his arms, clinging onto him. His senses were overloaded with Armin, from his scent to the feel of every curve on his lithe body. Eren pulled away from Armin slightly and delicately, almost as though Armin would break, and slipped two fingers under his chin in order to claim those irresistibly soft and rosy lips. To say Armin was surprised would be an understatement. If he felt like he was in dreamland before, then he supposes he must be in heaven right now. After only a moment of hesitation, almost as though it was instinct, he returned Eren’s kiss, albeit a bit more roughly and passionate. In the kiss he tried to convey to Eren that he was not made of glass and wouldn’t break so easily. Words have long since failed both of them and so they use actions to convey their bottled up feelings. After what could only be described as an intense make out session, they both settled down, panting with lovely shades of red on their cheeks. Eren was the first to speak, “So I don’t know, maybe I don’t even have to ask, or maybe that would be just very presumptuous of me but to clear up any misunderstandings there might be I’ll ask anyway. Will you be my boyfriend?” Eren asked the last part sheepishly. The blush on Eren’s cheeks turned unbelievably darker. Right now there was no filter between Eren’s thoughts and his mouth so whatever thoughts he had, he said. Armin could not resist laughing at how cute Eren was acting. Before Eren had anytime to feel embarrassed by his actions he was caught in a crushing hug. “Obviously you don’t have to ask silly. I’ve been in love with you for a very long time.” After a nice comfortable silence Eren just had to ask. “So, say it”. “Hmm” was Armin’s reply. “Yes you will be my boyfriend.” “Eh, why, I thought that was implied when I said you didn’t have to ask.” was Armin’s innocent reply. “Please just say it.” came Eren’s plea, accompanied by his cutest pout. Armin couldn’t help but chuckle,” Didn’t you ever hear the saying “actions speak louder than words’?” “But still, words are pretty important too!” Eren quickly argued back. A chuckle “Ok, yes Eren, I would gladly be your boyfriend” Armin was briefly aware of a ‘mine’ uttered by Eren before his lips were consumed in a passionate and melting kiss. Never had they both thought that this moment would ever happen. In a single moment the passion turned into hunger and need as they embraced each other. Kiss for kiss, proved the longing that they had for each other. Armin knew that this was his time to prove his point that he was man enough. With a slight push, he was on top of Eren with the naughtiest grin Eren has ever seen. ‘This is soooo much better than homework’ was Eren’s last thought before he was completely lost in Armin.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading (^o^). This was my first fanfiction ever and I really hope you enjoyed reading it.


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